How It Worked Out
by E. M. Zeray
Summary: He's going to stand up and go back to his cabin and sleep. And then, tomorrow morning, it'll be the same again. He won't notice how I look at him. He won't notice how I can't focus when he talks to me. PERCABETH fluff. Annabeth's POV on TLO's ending.


**A/N: For Kevin. Because I fell in love with you and you were too busy to notice when you broke my heart by pretending to feel the same way.**

I didn't mean to fall in love with him. In fact, I tried very hard not to. But…it just kind of happened. And then, when it did, I spent hours trying to convince myself that it didn't matter, that he wasn't what I wanted and that he would never be interested in me like that. But the crush continued. And continued. And continued. And just when I thought I'd gotten over him—like really thought there was no way I was interested in him—he goes off and kisses Rachel Elizabeth Dare and this feeling of unbelievable jealously boils inside me until I can't breathe. So, yeah…I'm in love with Percy Jackson. Not that he gives me a second glance. I'm his best friend. I'm not girlfriend material to him. In fact, I'm so far off his radar that Grover is more of an option than I am. And he's half-goat. Plus, I don't really think Percy swings that way.

Why am I thinking about this anyway? Stupid Seaweed Brain. He's so blind. He has no idea… I really thought that prophecy was about him last summer. I thought I would lose him to fate worse than death. And the fact that he was the first one to pop into my head when the Oracle said the line made me realize just how badly I had a crush on him. If only I could somehow escape the friend-zone…

I can't pretend I haven't thought about being with him. I kissed him last summer, didn't I? I thought I'd made it pretty clear how I felt. Apparently not. Or maybe he just didn't feel the same way. But I have thought about him. I've dreamt of him more than once. But it always ends the same way. With reality.

To make things worse, right about now he's about to become immortal and leave me. Forever. When I'm 89, he'll still be the perfect 16 year old with those sea-green eyes and the too-long, jet black hair that I fell in love with all those years ago. And I'll look at my grandchildren and cry because they're not his.

"No."

I think my heart just stopped.

Operating on auto-pilot was something I had learned to do a long time ago. Hiding my emotions was another. I did both for the next couple hours as we got back to camp, resolved the whole, Rachel-Oracle thing—which secretly gives me great joy because that means she'll finally keep her hands off Percy; who knows, maybe now we'll be friends—and settled into the mindset that we had just won the war of the century.

Now I'm sitting next to Percy as we stare at the water, the blue birthday cake crumbs still on our hands, and I know he's going to tell me that this summer was huge. We defeated Kronos. We saved the world. I know he's not going to mention anything else. He's going to stand up and go back to his cabin and sleep. And then, tomorrow morning, it'll be the same again. He won't notice how I look at him. He won't notice how I can't focus when he talks to me. And I'll pretend not to notice how he blushes when I flirt. I'll pretend not to care that he's giving me every sign that he likes me as more than a friend when he really doesn't. And maybe it'll break my heart all over again, but then, the next time I see him, I'll give him another chance. Because I'm in love with him.

"You know I'd kick your butt."

"When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable…Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."

"Yeah?"

"Then up on Olympus, when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking—"

"Oh, you so wanted to."

"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking…"

"Anyone in particular?" I ask softly, my heart beating double time. Could I be…wrong? I let myself crack a smile. I was wrong. That stupid seaweed brained Percy Jackson has a crush on _me._

"You're laughing at me."

"I am not!"

"You are _so_ not making this easy."

I don't really know what came over me—what made me feel so brave all of a sudden. I guess, everything just seemed to click in the instant my heart realized that I was the thing that had connected him to his mortality. I made him vulnerable because I had the ability to break his heart.

"I am never, _ever_ going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."

I'm still not sure how I ever lived without this—without knowing what it felt like to be kissed. Maybe it was just that Percy was the one kissing me but it hardly matters to me. I could stay like this forever. I'm just getting into the idea that we can when Clarisse and practically the rest of the camp hoist us onto their shoulders and dump us into the lake. Percy makes a bubble around us and gives me a sly wink, like we're sharing a secret, before he pulls me against him and kisses me once more.

I didn't mean to fall in love with him. And I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to fall in love with me. But that's just how it worked out.

**A/N: I was freewriting and this popped onto the page. Hope you liked it!**

**Love always,**

**E. M. Zeray**


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